Inside the Phillies with MLB.com beat writer Todd Zolecki

Brown Scratched from Lineup, Winter Ball and 2011 …

The Phillies scratched Domonic Brown from tonight’s lineup against the Marlins because of tightness in his right quadriceps.

Brown said he has been feeling tightness for about a week, but aggravated it sliding into home plate in Game 2 of a doubleheader Monday. Brown was scheduled to see a team doctor this evening.

“I think I’m all right,” Brown said.

Brown, who the organization just named its Paul Owens Minor League Player of the Year, said he felt the quad during early hitting.

“I didn’t want to make it any worse, so they decided to take me out of the lineup,” Brown said.

Jayson Werth, who had hit .059 (1-for-17) in his career against Marlins right-hander Chris Volstad, took his place and hit seventh.

Brown is hitting .214 with three doubles, two home runs and 12 RBIs in 30 games with the Phillies. Ruben Amaro Jr. said Brown would have been better served spending more time with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, but injuries and other roster decisions put the Phillies in position to keep him on the 25-man roster longer than they wanted.

But Amaro said the Phillies have talked with Brown and his agent about playing Winter Ball, which would help him make up for the at-bats he lost sitting on the Phillies’ bench.

“He’s not the perfect, finished product yet,” Amaro said. “He’s got things to learn, things to do, things to improve upon. We’ll see how it goes.”

There is a good chance Brown will be the Phillies’ everyday rightfielder in 2011. Werth will be one of the top two free agent outfielders this fall – Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford being the other — and the Phillies have not had any substantial talks with Werth for months. Werth is looking for new representation, although it is unclear how that might affect future talks.

“That’s possible,” Amaro said, asked of Brown’s chance to be a 2011 starter if there is an opening. “But I certainly won’t anoint him that guy.”

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2 Comments

When Shane went down, it pretty much sealed Domonic’s fate. I just hope the kid can learn from and shake off this mostly frustrating experience in the Bigs. I know he’ll be playing Winter Ball with the goal on improving. He’s a definite keeper. Can’t wait to see him in SpTr next March and in a Phillie uniform for the whole 2011 season.

Any word on what the Phillies 2011 interleague schedule is going to look like? I am in the 3rd year of my “mission” to see the Phillies in every ballpark. I’m up to 18 parks and I’m hoping they play some AL west opponents. Also, I never seen someone so hard at work on their laptop while waiting for their US Airways flight back to Philadelphia. Keep up the good work!

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